Selective Mutism Outside of school Activities - Girl Scout clean

• Who: Amy, Girl Scout troops, leader
• Location:  outside near stream
• Environment: quiet, not a lot of noise or movement
• Worry Level:  2 Amy is not afraid to speak because she is with her talking buddy. SHe does not feel pressure to speak.
• Purpose: Have Amy participate in a good cause and let her become comfortable with communicating.
• What is Happening: Amy and Girl Scout troops are by a quiet stream, cleaning up the garbage. They carry trash bags and brooms.They are picking up garbage at their local park and stream and cleaning their community. Troop leader explain to troops what they are going to do.

Strategy and Scene

• Whisper buddy, Talking buddy - Give Amy and partner an area to clean. Give her the task of counting the kids and making sure they are all there to help with the cleaning. Report to the troop leader every half hour.   Break group into pairs and have Amy with one of her Whisper Buddies
• Create talking opportunity, invite her to conversation - Ask the group what they thought about the cleaning
• Invite Amy into the conversation by restating what others think and ask her opinion
• Assign her a job - Make Amy in charge of a garbage bag. “Whoever has garbage, bring it over here to my garbage bag!”
• Answer questions -“Where do I put bottles and metal?”
• Praise and encouragement - “Good job Amy, thank you for counting you friends and reporting to the group leader!”
• Ask Amy to give the girls candy or a reward when they finish cleaning. “Amy, can you ask your friends if they want candy or a reward for their hard work?”
• Small talk - Have Amy work with and talk to a friend or someone she is familiar with.

The Girls Scouts has a lot of activities for everyone; every month, the Girls Scouts would come together after school in a classroom and participate in learning new information, sharing ideas, and planning to make the community a better place. Every time the girls met up, everyone was extremely excited, and jumped out of their seats to see each other. Of course, the snacks and fruit made the children happy too.  

It was a bright sunny day, the sky was a soft shade of blue, and there was a slight breeze in the air. Today is the park cleaning day for Amy and Girl Scout troops.   At 9:00 o’clock, the girls gathered by a quiet stream in the park. “Our task is to clean up the garbage along the stream.” said Mrs. Smith, the troop leader, “Please find a partner, one uses broom and the other carries the garbage bag.” Naturally, Amy and Isabella, her best friend in the girls scout, formed a pair. With Isabella next to her, Amy felt relaxed and pleasantly comfortable. They were a good team, Isabella swept the trash to a pile while Amy picked up to the garbage bag.  “OMG! why do people throw garbage in the park?” Isabella grumbled while sweeping. 

“That’s why Girl Scouts do clean stream!” Amy answered with a smile. “Imagine that by end of the day, the park will be nice and clean. What a beautiful and meaningful day we’ll have!”.   That’s right, Amy thought to herself. A good summer day with a good cause.  There  streams and small brooks that twisted and turned around the park. In order to collect garbage for Girls Scouts, many of the children had to cross these brooks to get around the park. When Amy was crossing the stream, she stepped on a very slippery rock and fell into the water! Realizing that this rock was not safe for the other girls, she quickly got up, rolled her pant sleeves up, and stood in the water to help other girls cross the stream.  

Two hours turned into three hours when Amy and her girls scouts got tired after picking up garbage. They started to play tag and run around the park after they finished their tasks. Coming down the hill, everyone was tired and ready to go back home. J

un Reitman and Alyssa Song    Wechat: Junwang08837 [e-mail]  SunnyMindED.org